Thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box (TOX), a member of the high mobility group protein super-family, plays an important role in T cell development, functional maintenance, and exhaustion. It has been recently found that TOX exerts critical immunoregulatory functions during pathogen infections, and TOX expression is strongly associated with the intensity and tolerance of host immune responses. This review systematically summarizes the structural and functional features of TOX and focuses on its expression dynamics, mechanisms of action, and immunomodulatory effects during viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, which provides a theoretical support to better understanding of the role of TOX in infectious diseases and provides new insights into development of potential immunotherapeutic strategies targeting TOX.

Aim To study the effect of liraglutide on myocardial metabolites and related metabolic pathways in diabetic cardiomyopathy(DCM)rats.Methods Among 60 SPF male SD rats aged 3 weeks,10 rats were randomly selected as normal control group(n=10),and the remaining 50 rats were established by peritoneal injection of streptozoto-cin combined with high-sugar and high-fat diet for DCM rat model.A total of 36 rats were successfully modeled for DCM and randomly divided into DCM model group(DCM group,n=12),low-dose liraglutide treatment group(LL group,n=12)and high-dose liraglutide treatment group(HL group,n=12).Rats in LL group(100 μg/kg)and HL group(200μg/kg)were given intraperitoneal injection of liraglutide once a day.And after 12 weeks of intervention,the rats were killed under anesthesia after echocardiography to detect cardiac function,and the heart tissues were taken for metabolomics detection.The differential metabolites and related pathways that may be related to liraglutide improving myocardial metab-olism in DCM rats were screened and enriched.Results Compared with normal control group,left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and left ventricular fractional shortening(LVFS)in DCM group were significantly decreased,and the ra-tio of early to late diastolic mitralflow velocities(E/A)was significantly increased(P＜0.05).Compared with DCM group,LVEF and LVFS in LL group and HL group were significantly increased,and E/A ratio was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),suggesting that the impairment of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function in LL group and HL group was significantly alleviated.395 metabolites were detected by metabolomics,among which 239,116 and 187 different metab-olites and 13,6 and 20 metabolic pathways were enriched in DCM group and normal control group,LL group and DCM group,HL group and DCM group.In the above three groups,29 key differential metabolites were identified related to 3 metabolic pathways including choline metabolic pathway,caffeine metabolic pathway and valine,leucine and isoleucine bi-osynthesis pathway,among which choline metabolic pathway had the most significant differences.Conclusion These results indicated that liraglutide can ameliorate cardiac dysfunction in DCM rats through improving myocardial metabolism in which choline metabolism pathway may play a key role.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and cognitive function of 3 new antiepileptic drugs Oxcarbazepine (OXC), Lamotrigine (LTG) and Levetiracetam (LEV) in children with self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS).Methods:This was a prospective study.A total of 98 children with SeLECTS who were treated in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University from January 2014 to June 2020 were divided into OXC group, LTG group and LEV group according to the applied therapeutic drugs.Video electroencephalograph (EEG), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and event-related potentials (ERPs) of the children were collected before treatment and 48 weeks of treatment.Clinical efficacy and impact on cognitive function among the 3 groups were compared.Results:(1)Efficacy: There was no significant difference in the effective rate of seizure reduction after treatment among the 3 groups( χ2=0.808, P=0.668). There was no significant difference in EEG remission rate among the 3 groups( χ2=0.763, P=0.683). (2)Cognitive function: ①Intragroup comparison of WISC findings showed that the full scale score (FIQ) and verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) were significantly enhanced, and the scores of comprehension, vocabulary, arithmetic, decoding and spelling subtests were more significantly enhanced in OXC group after treatment (all P<0.05). In the LTG group, FIQ, VIQ and operational intelligence quotient (PIQ) were significantly enhanced after treatment (all P<0.05), and the subtest scores of comprehension, vocabulary, arithmetic, mapping and layout were significantly enhanced (all P<0.05). In LEV group, FIQ, VIQ and PIQ were significantly enhanced after treatment (all P<0.05), especially the increase in the VIQ, and the scores of vocabulary, understanding, similarity, arithmetic, decoding and puzzle subtests were significantly enhanced (all P<0.05). Pairwise comparison of WISC findings showed that there were no significant differences in the FIQ, VIQ, PIQ and subtest scores before treatment among the 3 groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the arithmetic and decoding scores of OXC group were significantly higher than those of LTG group (all P<0.05), which were comparable between OXC group and LEV group (all P>0.05). The PIQ and the scores of mapping and layout in LTG group were significantly higher than those of the other 2 groups (all P<0.05). The LEV group had higher scores in vocabulary, comprehension and spelling than those of the other 2 groups (all P<0.05), which had higher decoding scores than those of the LTG group (all P<0.05). No significant differences were found in decoding scores between LEV and OXC group (all P>0.05). Higher VIQ and FIQ were detected in LEV group than those of the other 2 groups (all P<0.05). ②Intragroup comparison of ERPs showed that the latency of LEV group after treatment was significantly shorter than that before treatment ( P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between the other 2 groups before and after treatment (all P>0.05). Pairwise comparison of ERPs showed that before treatment, there were no significant differences in P300 amplitude and latency among the 3 groups (all P>0.05). After treatment, the latency of LEV group was significantly shorter than that of the other 2 groups ( P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the amplitude between the 3 groups before and after treatment ( P>0.05). Conclusions:(1)In the treatment of SeLECTS in children, OXC, LTG and LEV have reliable and equivalent effects.(2)OXC, LTG and LEV have protective effects on cognitive function in children with SeLECTS.After treatment, LEV provides the strongest protective effect on FIQ, and the protective effect on VIQ is equivalent to OXC, but better than LTG.LTG is superior in protecting spatial perception and PIQ.

Objective To explore the changes of serum amyloid A (SAA) level and its clinical significance in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD). Methods One hundred and sixty-four patients with acute ischemic stroke, admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to June 2017 were assessed with Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17) to evaluate the depression degrees, and accordingly, they were divided into PSD group (n=57) and non-PSD group (n=107). Healthy volunteers who were examined in the corresponding period were selected as healthy control group (n=50). The SAA level was determined with ELISA in subjects of the 3 groups. Clinical data were collected; single factor analysis and multivariate Logistic regression analysis were performed to select the risk factors of PSD. Results The SAA level in PSD group ([18.85±5.25] mg/L) was significantly higher than that in the non-PSD group ([15.25±5.75] mg/L) and healthy control group ([7.65±4.50] mg/L, P<0.05); that in the non-PSD group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (P<0.05). Single factor analysis showed that differences in education level, introversion, economic status, living alone, marital status, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores≥9 at admission, complications, and proportion of key area infarction (frontal lobe and basal ganglia) had statistical significance between PSD group and non-PSD group (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that introversion, poor economic status, living alone, NIHSS scores≥9, infarction of key areas, and elevation of SAA level (OR=1.545, P=0.035, 95％ CI: 1.257-1.898) were independent risk factors for PSD (P<0.05). Conclusion SAA used as one of the detection biomarkers has great significance in early diagnosis, intervention and clinical prevention for PSD.